As the new director for UNC Charlotte’s Center for the Study of the New South, Ashli Quesinberry Stokes will draw upon her research expertise and knowledge, along with her leadership and community engagement experiences, to lead the Center in its work.
The Center promotes discourse and dialogue on a rich and diverse constellation of topics and ideas relating to the New South. Known as the period of regional history from the end of the Civil War to the modern era, the New South offers a bold tapestry of history, culture, social movements, and political issues ripe for reflection and study.
Stokes, an associate professor and director of the communication studies honors program in the Department of Communication Studies, fills a role previously held by Jeffrey Leak. Leak, a professor of English, has assumed the role of president of the Faculty Council at UNC Charlotte.
Stokes teaches a variety of public relations courses at the undergraduate and graduate level. Her courses include principles of public relations, public relations strategy and campaigns, issues management, health communication campaigns, and organizational rhetoric. In the summer of 2015, she led the 13th year of the department’s public relations study abroad program in the United Kingdom.
Stokes’ research focuses on public relations and communication, specializing in rhetorical approaches to analyzing public relations controversies. She has co-authored a textbook with colleague Alan Freitag, titled Global Public Relations: Spanning Borders, Spanning Cultures, published by Routledge, published in journals including the Journal of Public Relations Research, Public Relations Review, the Southern Communication Journal, Journal of Communication Management, Studies in Communication Sciences, and is a frequent book chapter contributor. Upon the completion of her master’s degree at Wake Forest University, she worked in agency and corporate public relations. Stokes then returned to academia and completed her doctoral degree at the University of Georgia in 2004.
We recently talked with Stokes about plans for the Center.
Q. Tell us what your work at the Center for the Study of the New South will entail.
A. As incoming director, I follow a strong legacy in bringing engaging programming to campus and the Charlotte community surrounding issues of concern in today’s New South. Over the years, the Center has explored southern history, race, sports, food, and many more topics through its work. It has hosted scholars, held panels and community discussions, and organized conferences to create a conversation about the role of Southern culture in today’s world. In short, my job is to continue to offer planning and leadership to promote and facilitate growth in research, outreach, and public engagement in the study of the New South.
Q. How did your involvement with the Center begin?
A. I first became actively involved in the Center during 2012. Part of my research in communication concerns the South and I learned about the Center’s offerings here on campus. I attended a few events and was hooked. That year I listened to David Goldfield and Karen Cox present their work in the “New South in the Afternoon” discussions.
After that, I attended Center planning meetings and helped to brainstorm upcoming programming. In 2013-14, the Center explored the New South and Southern food for its programming theme, and I was able to take a more involved role, as part of my research concerns the relationship between southern food rhetoric and identity. During this “year of Southern food,” I helped Jeffrey Leak bring the Southern Foodways Alliance film Pride and Joy to campus. Along with other faculty members, we offered a response to the film and had a conversation with audience members about its themes. I also helped bring community members together for a panel about Southern food and sustainability here in Charlotte. The Center was able to create a lot of energy around those themes in the community, and I seek to continue that spirit.
Q. How has your personal and academic past prepared and inspired you to take on this position?
A. I was born in Virginia and lived in parts of the South my entire life. But, more than that, I’ve been interested in the South as a locus for communication scholarship for years. I first began exploring communication questions about the South back in graduate school at the University of Georgia, and it has been an ongoing topic of interest since then.
Most recently, I wrote a book with co-author Dr. Wendy Atkins-Sayre of the University of Southern Mississippi, titled Consuming Identity: The Role of Food in Redefining the South, to be published this year by the University Press of Mississippi. As we worked on the book for the better part of two years, I knew that I wanted to focus more of my academic life researching Southern culture and communication. Then the opportunity to apply for the position became available. It was great timing, and I am energized by the chance to direct the Center’s work and go deeper into the study of the New South.
Q. How will your previous research influence your work at the Center?
A. In working on the book, I became aware of the importance of collecting people’s observations and reflections about the New South. In our research, people didn’t think of the South as this archaic construct – they wanted to talk about it, often quite a bit. Working on the book taught me that there’s a lot left to say about the South, and my job is to listen to what faculty, students and the broader community want to talk about and help engage that conversation.
Q. What plans do you have for the Center in the future, and what does success look like for the Center?
A. I’d like the Center to continue its community partnership with the work of the Levine Museum of the New South in Uptown; they have been a fabulous partner. Also, I’d like to get more of our excellent faculty working with the Center while bringing more of their expertise into the greater University and Charlotte community. The Center provides a natural way to develop relationships across campus and the greater Charlotte community that I want to continue. If I can continue the legacy of the Center’s commitment to engaging New South issues and deepen these relationships, I’ll be doing my job.
Q. What do you think will be some of the most interesting and challenging aspects of directing the center?
A. One interesting challenge will be in helping decide which topic we will next engage. There’s a lot happening in our region regarding politics, race, class, gender, music, health, history, sustainability, and so on. There’s so much to choose from in determining the Center’s programming. I also believe that we as a University should continue to be a place where people can come together to talk about issues of importance, and the Center must continue to serve as this community resource.
Q. On what will the Center’s programming focus this year?
A. The Center is about to begin its “Latino and the New South” initiative for 2015-16, focusing on the historical and contemporary Latino presence in the New South. We’ll be doing programming surrounding the Levine Museum’s NUEVOlution! Exhibition, for one. We’re also working on developing a lecture next spring on the political, cultural, economic and social dynamics related to Latinos in our and other Southern communities. Throughout the year we will have a variety of speakers and events from a variety of academic departments and community organizations that engage this timely issue.
Q. Why is a Center like this one important to the community and the South as a whole? What makes it unique?
A. The Center examines the relationship between timely societal issues and culture in the New South. It takes a broad view that is not limited to past histories or “overdone” topics. Its programming relates to many departments and disciplines on campus including, for example, English, History, American Studies, Communication, Latin American Studies, Psychology, Political Science and Public Administration, Business, Health and Human Services, and the list goes on.
In essence the Center has an interdisciplinary focus that provides a strong foundation in exploring connections between the New South and its people. We can reach undergraduates, graduates, faculty and staff, and a range of other people from different parts of the Charlotte community. Tom Hanchett of the Levine Museum says that Charlotte represents the “Newcomer South,” a phrase I think sums up our “ever-evolving” city and region and the Center’s potential in serving as a source of connection for the communities within it. I would love to hear from the University community about how they would like to connect in our corner of the New South.
Words: Skye Allan, CLAS Student Communications Assistant
Image: Emily Luther
